ConcernedApe Gives us a Status Report on Stardew Valley’s Next Big Update

One man band, ConcernedApe (AKA Eric Barone), has written Stardew Valley fans some information on the coveted 1.1 update! Version 1.1 is the substantial update coming to farming/fishing/mining/relationship/feeling simulator which will include 2 new marriage candidates, Shane and Emily, as well as new buildings, more resources, more seeds, and more fun, really, with multiplayer and console editions coming afterwards.

He states that the content update is taking longer than he has hoped due to being the only person working on this highly successful game, as well as time doing press for interviews, articles and so on. Not only that but when you do one thing for so long, it begins to become a burden.

He states:

“However, to be entirely honest… the main reason the update is taking so long is that I was feeling very burnt out for a while recently, and my productivity went way down. Stardew Valley has consumed nearly every waking moment of my life for almost five years now, and I think my brain demanded some time away from it.

I had taken a very small break (a few days) a couple months after launch, but it wasn’t enough. I know I said I felt refreshed, but I was lying to myself. I should have just committed to a longer break. Rather, I spent the last couple of months dilly-dallying, playing video games all day, surfing the web, and feeling guilty about the trivial amount of real work I was doing.”

We totally understand, Eric! We are a patient bunch.

He then went on to let us know how the update is coming along. He states that the whole story/heart events and marriage with Shane are complete, with Emily’s story 80% done (and we cannot wait). Not only that but new farm buildings, as well as the ability to move them once built, a new upgrade to your house is available, new items and crops, and new spouse behaviour tasks are now complete!

Next on his list is something he hasn’t revealed yet that will provide better replayability, more buildings, more character events for non-marriable NPCs and some bug fixes.

He also gave us a little sneak peek at some heart events for our new bachelor/bachelorette.

In closing, he stated:

“When will this be released? I’m not sure. I made a lot of estimates during the pre-release development of Stardew Valley and was always wildly off, so I’ve learned not to do that anymore. All I can say is that the update will be ready as soon as it possibly can be, and while I want to release it soon, I won’t compromise on quality to make that happen. As always, thanks for your patience.”

Thanks for all you do, ConcernedApe and we cannot wait to see this new update!